Healthy Mind, Happy Heart Wellington, New Zealand

Month: February 2016

A bodyscan is a great way to meditate and relax. You can make it as long or short as you like. It can help distract your mind from your worries and make you more aware of what is going on in your body. We don’t usually take time to scan our bodies!

Start with 3 deep breaths, and focus first on your feet, and than focus on the different parts of your body. Your legs, your belly, your chest, your arms, hands, neck and shouders and head. You can make it longer by adding your face, mouth and eyes for example. Or do your left and right side separately.

This can be energising or it can make you fall asleep. Try and find out how this can be useful to you!

This week it is back to basics! Pick one thing you are doing every day, and this week you are doing it while giving it your fullest attention. It doesn’t have to take long, it’s to get you started in your new habit of being more mindful in the here and now. This will help in giving your brain a break from continuous processing, worrying, planning, ruminating and anything else that might give you unwanted feelings or stress.

Use all your senses, focus your attention on all you can see, hear, smell, and feel.

Would love to hear how this is working for you, what are you doing mindfully this week?? For me it is hanging my laundry outside!

Have a great week!

(That’s not my own laundry on the picture by the way, can you guess who’s it is??)

The holidays are over, we are still enjoying glorious days in Wellington, but I guess all is back to normal for all. It is easy to get lost in the daily grind, and not be living your life as fulfilling as you woud wish for.

That is why this week we’re going to keep an eye out for anything that excites us and makes us enthusiastic. If you spot this feeling, give it your full attention, notice where in your body you can feel it and take a couple of deep breaths to really feel the excitement and enthousiasm grow. Even if it is just a little thing or activity that gives a little spark of excitement, just give it all your attention. It can be something you see or hear maybe. If you find it hard to find anything at all, think about what you could do this week that might be exciting. Or think back about what has excited you before, that you could do again? Maybe as a child? And remember, this is about you, living a happy life, not about what others think about you.

Hi all, hope you are making the most of this long Waitangi weekend. Here’s your Weekly Mindfulness Workout:

Feeling happy comes from having happy thoughts, and you can practice this, start with just a minute a day. This might feel a bit strange in the beginning, but every new habit feels a bit uncomfy first. Just randomly start with labeling everything that is happy, pretty or good around you. For me that goes like this right now: I love how my cat is so confident and relaxed chilling in the middle of the living room, I like the pretty flowers on my teacup, that pen writes so smooth, I enjoyed the chat with my mum on Skype today, that little wooden cat my son made is such a cheerful thing to look at, how cute look all the pink hearts together, that I have crocheted for Little sprouts, that pink colour on that card is gorgeous, and so on. You might get distracted halfway through, that is only normal! Just go back to having happy thoughts.

Decide what is a good time for you to practice. Maybe when you have your shower in the morning, or drinking your morning tea. Or every time you have to wait in traffic. You could pick the same moment every day so it is easy to remember. You can even set the timer on your phone to remind you, or write a little sign on your hand, HT for example, Happy Thoughts.

Morning all! First day back at school for many children today, please be careful on the roads!

Here is your Weekly Mindfulness Workout:
Being mindful of yourself includes looking after your thoughts and feelings, and also your actions. Doing things can make you tired, or it can be energizing.

Take ten minutes today, to write down a list of all the things you do, that give you energy, things that make you feel relaxed, things that give you a break, etc. Now every evening after your dinner, have a look at the list, and take note of how many things you have done to refill your battery.
Do you refill enough or are you wearing yourself down? Are you doing well or are you going to make some changes?

I make sure I take regular short breaks to recharge. My things are usually doing something creative like Zendoodle. Short breaks mean that I usually don’t finish a project though. So I have learned to accept that it’s ok not to finish. If you have children, you will have learned that already 😉
Have a good week!